Collaboration

This project showcases the first collaboration between two exciting and inspired companies – namely Underdog Productions and Fanagalo Films. With their 17-year global track record and their undisputed commitment to the South African industry, Underdog Productions have teamed up with the vigour, passion and fresh attack provided by Fanagalo Films, the recently established company that holds much promise for the future.

With this collaboration and their 21-year history as school (SACS) alumni behind them – these companies predict a protracted future of extraordinary and groundbreaking work together.

The project is being produced under a jointly owned Special Purpose Corporate Vehicle (SPCV) incorporate din the Republic of South Africa, called Hound Films (Pty) Ltd.

Underdog Productions

Underdog is probably the first true, new era MULTIMEDIA and PRODUCTION Company founded on the cusp of a democratic South Africa. Formed in 1993, its 17 years of history is testimony to a stable production company, with a proud history of world class production experience, cross media skills, acclaimed reality and documentary shows, online presences, as well as real transformation and empowerment programs spanning back to its beginnings. Underdog works in practically all media every day and has produced various award-winning television and corporate productions, interactive web sites, CD-ROMs, promotional television and print campaigns. Underdog is a PTY Limited Company and is therefore audited on an annual basis.

Underdog’s film and television work has been broadcast in North America, Australia and Europe. It has screened at film festivals in cities such as New York, London, Sydney, Toronto, Hamburg, Washington, Berlin and Rio de Janeiro. For example: successful at festivals globally – Black Beulahs (by director Fanney Tsimong) is a groundbreaking documentary which looks at the reality of being successful, black, gay and out in the conservative township of Soweto. Underdog has guided a number of young, black directors to success through documentaries such as Only a Number (a new age, love story focusing on an older woman and a younger man, broadcast on SABC 3 in 2007) and TWO MOMS, a festival favourite that was screened on SABC 2 in 2004. FLUSH was also broadcast in 2004 on SABC 3, giving a fresh look at toilets and the people that use them. Other highlights have included the acclaimed documentary METAMORPHOSIS: THE REMARKABLE JOURNEY OF GRANNY LEE in 2000, which was broadcast in several countries and continues to be invited for festival screenings. In 1998 the two-hour television documentaryDEATH also distributed internationally and won three prestigious awards, including Gold in the NTVA Avanti documentary category. Underdog has completed four years of producing all Inserts, Promos and Profiles (approximately 50 per year) as well as a Profile Show of 48 minutes for the SHOPRITE CHECKERS / SABC 2 WOMAN OF THE YEAR AWARDS. Additionally, in 2008, Underdog was delighted to be able to provide all finalist Promos and Category Inserts for the COMMUNITY BUILDER OF THE YEAR AWARD which is sponsored by Old Mutual and Sowetan, broadcast on SABC 2. Underdog is extremely proud to highlight the work of those who serve their communities.

In online and cross media exploitation, Underdog headed a massive team of “Underdogs,” crafting web and enhanced channel content on a 24/7 basis for both history-making BIG BROTHER SOUTH AFRICA shows, as well as BIG BROTHER AFRICA 1. We even took on certain production roles such as Task Master for the first ever BIG BROTHER SOUTH AFRICA and shared Executive Producer titles with Endemol South Africa.

Acutely aware of the threat of HIV / AIDS to South Africa and its youth – Underdog has actively sought to affiliate itself with companies and organisations involved in the fight against the spread of infection by promoting positive sexuality messaging. The company designed and created the content for the websites of loveLife, Health-e andBroadcast HIV Africa. S’camto Ground Breakers and Imagine Afrika are both reality TV shows for which Underdog designed and created websites as well as theIt Begins with You Campaign and the Football 4 HIV Free Generation project. Underdog provides a CSI discount on its services to these invaluable non-profit organisations which totals a substantial and acknowledged value of over R100, 000.00 a year between the NGO’s.

Underdog is just as comfortable in the corporate world as with the NGO sector, having served many blue chip clients, government parastatals including in the last year alone: Transnet, Standard Bank Fleet and the Shoprite group.

Underdog has just recently been BEE rated for the second year as an Exempted Micro Enterprise Level 4 Contributor by BEE Rating Solutions, a Broad-Based BEE Verification Service.

As Underdog has a producer and office in Cape Town as well as it main office in Melville Johannesburg, they are well suited to handling projects, which require infrastructure and crew in both regions of South Africa.

Post Production

The Facilities

Underdog boasts TWO full broadcast ENG kits with DVCAM and HDV capability. There are THREE Final Cut Studio suites networked to a large RAID-5 storage server for off-line and on-line editing as well as graphics, grading and audio mix work.

Our kennel even has its own fully air-conditioned dedicated postproduction building on-site with its own broadcast Betacam SP, HDV, DVCAM and DV compatible recorder decks in-house. Our Multibridge Pro allows export and ingestion from all known formats up to 2K film Resolution.

Underdog facilities are very competitively priced below industry standards for facilities of the latest technology

The Specs

Underdog Facilities are designed specifically for high volume high speed editing:

2x Mac Pro’s with 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Xenon processors and each equipped with either one 30-inch or 2x 23inch Apple Cinema Displays, and each with a 1 Terabyte Raid 0 Striped Render drive, a 500GB local data drive and 8GB RAM. They are set up in a sound dampened, separate edit structure on our premises, and the facility is equipped with a client viewing area, broadcast monitor, latest dual DMI / HDMI Multibridge Pro, two Sony HDV Recorder Decks and a Betacam SP Recorder standard. The Multibridge supports any known deck and Underdog has a relationship with Visual Impact and other suppliers to ensure we can quickly output to any HD format required by a broadcaster.

1x specially ordered 4GB MacBook Air Edit Suite for lightweight Mobile use or connected to the server on site. It is also equipped with 1TB external drive if the network is not being used.

These suites are all equipped and licensed with Final Cut Studio, and run on the Snow Leopard MacOS. The suites also have a full version of Adobe Creative Suite 3 Web Premium installed for design and image manipulation work. They are networked via a local high-speed fibre network to a separate HP – 3 Terabyte RAID-5 Storage Server (12 drive bays!) with redundant hot swap drive and a full spares kit on site. This is separately housed in a temperature controlled server room environment and secured for further data protection. The entire operation and all office computers are backed up by off-site data backups, and un-interrupted power including several 1500VA APC UPS’s which in turn are backed up by an auto start 12KVA on site diesel generator.

Underdog also owns several broadcast cameras, including the Sony V1 HDV camera; lighting kits, matte boxes, sound equipment and even a custom built micro dolly and tracks.

The Rest

Underdog partners with Visual Impact & Media Film Services for additional gear, and does final mixes and studio shoot work at several facilities including ZSE, Guy Steer and Final Fade Audio nearby.

Fanagalo Films

Terence Bridgett and Paul du Toit have established themselves as industry leaders on South Africa’s stages and screens over the last 17 years and have become much-loved household names. They have both been producers of theatrical productions over the last few years, to both critical acclaim and box office success.

The work ethic and professionalism for which they have become known in the industry, coupled with a personal history that dates back to the beginning of their careers, have inevitably culminated in this, their foray into television production – Fanagalo Films.

It is their aim to not only transpose this work ethic, combined with their passion and commitment, to their new venture, but also to provide a platform for this generation’s voice to be explored in this vibrant, evolving, dynamic country.

Hound Films (Pty) Ltd

Hound Films (Pty) Ltd is the Special Purpose Corporate Vehicle (SPCV) setup in compliance with the requirements of the Department of Trade and Industry’s South African Film and Television Production and Co-production Incentive. The company is owned by Underdog productions (Pty) Ltd and Fanagolo Films (Pty) Ltd.

Employment Equity

The production is produced by the Special Purpose Corporate Vehicle (SPCV) Hound Films (Pty) Ltd that was rated by Broad-Based BEE Verification Service DRGsiyaya on Certificate Number E00733 on 20 April 2011 as Level 4 Contributor BEE, with a Recognition Level of 100%. The production also has a mentorship program as part of the project.

Underdog Productions (Pty) Ltd, a 50% shareholder in Hound Films was rated by Broad-Based BEE Verification Service BEE Rating Solutions, on Certificate Number BRS002455 on 25 November 2010 as a Level 4 Contributor with 100% BEE recognition. For 17 years Underdog has been and remains truly committed to transformation internally, via our suppliers and also in the broader industry in which we operate. Our internal mentorship and training initiatives (The Puppy Project) have literally changed lives.

Fanagalo Films is majority black owned, but has not been rated. Its owners are Terence Bridgett (majority) and Paul du Toit.